| Summary: |
Copper-carboxymethylcellulose (CuCMC) beads con-taining carbaryl were prepared by the ionotropic crosslink-ing of sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC) with cop-per ions. The beads were characterized by carbaryl encapsu-lation efficiency, bead diameter, equilibrium swelling de-gree and carbaryl release kinetics. The spherical nature and surface morphology of the beads were confirmed by scan-ning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of the bead preparation conditions such as percent of NaCMC, car-baryl:sodium carboxymethylcellulose (car:NaCMC) ratio, crosslinker concentration and kaolin addition as a filler on carbaryl release were studied. The release results indi-cated that carbaryl release from the beads increases with increase in the percentage composition of NaCMC, car:NaCMC ratio, and kaolin addition, but decreases with increase of crosslinker concentration. The equilibrium swelling degree of the beads were also in agreement with the release results. The carbaryl release experiments indi-cated that the transport deviates from Fickian to non-Fickian mechanism with an increase in car:NaCMC ratio. |